The first year I was at NASA, I was only responsible for optical and ultraviolet astronomy. Frankly, there wasn't much else.
We live in a technical society.
Many societal problems concern science, such as the energy crisis, genetic alterations of foods.
The exciting results from the Hubble, other satellites and probes would not have been possible without innovative solutions to many technical problems.
Just as the lunar landings inspired many young people to consider careers in space and related fields, the solution of the challenging instrumentation problems presented in space science can inspire young people to push beyond the current state of the art.
In 1956, I received an invitation to a dedication of an observatory in the Soviet Union, in Soviet Armenia, as a guest of the Soviet Academy of Sciences.
